Skip to main content

Measuring Diabetes Quality of Care: Clinical Outcomes, Cost-Effectiveness, and Patient Experience of Care

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Diabetes Textbook

Abstract

It is widely recognized worldwide that the quality of care provided to those with diabetes mellitus is far from optimal. To guide quality improvement efforts in an efficient way, it is important to identify and target key aspects of diabetes care, track valid measures of care quality over time, and use these measures to direct improvement efforts and assess their results. Here we will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of current measures of diabetes care quality and comment on current challenges that face those engaged in this effort, including developers of quality measures, users of such measures to improve clinical care delivery, or users of such measures to monitor population health. For the sake of brevity, we will focus on outpatient care of adults with type 2 diabetes and limit our attention in this chapter to selected measures of clinical outcomes, cost of care, and patient care experience.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Gregg EW, Li Y, Wang J, Burrows NR, Ali MK, Rolka D, et al. Changes in diabetes-related complications in the United States, 1990-2010. N Engl J Med. 2014;370(16):1514–23.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Gregg EW, Zhuo X, Cheng YJ, Albright AL, Narayan KM, Thompson TJ. Trends in lifetime risk and years of life lost due to diabetes in the USA, 1985-2011: a modelling study. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2014;2(11):867–74.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Knowler WC, Fowler SE, Hamman RF, Christophi CA, Hoffman HJ, Brenneman AT, et al. 10-year follow-up of diabetes incidence and weight loss in the diabetes prevention program outcomes study. Lancet. 2009;374(9702):1677–86.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Herman WH, Hoerger TJ, Brandle M, Hicks K, Sorensen S, Zhang P, et al. The cost-effectiveness of lifestyle modification or metformin in preventing type 2 diabetes in adults with impaired glucose tolerance. Ann Intern Med. 2005;142(5):323–32.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Lee CG, Heckman-Stoddard B, Dabelea D, Gadde KM, Ehrmann D, Ford L, et al. Effect of metformin and lifestyle interventions on mortality in the diabetes prevention program and diabetes prevention program outcomes study. Diabetes Care. 2021;44(12):2775–82.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Montori VM, Fernandez-Balsells M. Glycemic control in type 2 diabetes: time for an evidence-based about-face? Ann Intern Med. 2009;150(11):803–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Brito JP, Montori VM, ACP Journal Club. Intensive BP control and/or glucose control did not reduce microvascular events in hypertensive type 2 diabetes. Ann Intern Med. 2012;157(8):JC4–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. O’Connor PJ, Ismail-Beigi F. Near-normalization of glucose and microvascular diabetes complications: data from ACCORD and ADVANCE. Ther Adv Endocrinol Metab. 2011;2(1):17–26.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Gilmer TP, O’Connor PJ, Manning WG, Rush WA. The cost to health plans of poor glycemic control. Diabetes Care. 1997;20(12):1847–53.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Desai JR, Vazquez-Benitez G, Xu Z, Schroeder EB, Karter AJ, Steiner JF, et al. Who must we target now to minimize future cardiovascular events and total mortality?: lessons from the surveillance, prevention and management of diabetes mellitus (SUPREME-DM) cohort study. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2015;8(5):508–16.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. O’Connor PJ, Bodkin NL, Fradkin J, Glasgow RE, Greenfield S, Gregg E, et al. Diabetes performance measures: current status and future directions. Diabetes Care. 2011;34(7):1651–9.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  12. Wang L, Li X, Wang Z, Bancks MP, Carnethon MR, Greenland P, et al. Trends in prevalence of diabetes and control of risk factors in diabetes among US adults, 1999–2018. JAMA. 2021;326(8):1–13.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Patel SY, McCoy RG, Barnett ML, Shah ND, Mehrotra A. Diabetes care and glycemic control during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. JAMA Intern Med. 2021;181(10):1412–4.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. World Health Organization. International diabetes federation HEARTS D: diagnosis and management of type 2 diabetes. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2020. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/who-ucn-ncd-20.1

    Google Scholar 

  15. National Quality Forum. Social risk trial final report. Washington, DC: National Quality Forum; 2017. https://www.qualityforum.org/Publications/2017/07/Social_Risk_Trial_Final_Report.aspx.

    Google Scholar 

  16. National Quality Forum. Best practices for developing and testing risk adjustment models. Washington, DC: National Quality Forum. https://www.qualityforum.org/ProjectDescription.aspx?projectID=93616.

  17. Gerstein HC, Miller ME, Genuth S, Ismail-Beigi F, Buse JB, Goff DC Jr, et al. Long-term effects of intensive glucose lowering on cardiovascular outcomes. N Engl J Med. 2011;364(9):818–28.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Patel A, MacMahon S, Chalmers J, Neal B, Woodward M, Billot L, et al. Effects of a fixed combination of perindopril and indapamide on macrovascular and microvascular outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (the ADVANCE trial): a randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2007;370(9590):829–40.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Patel A, MacMahon S, Chalmers J, Neal B, Billot L, Woodward M, et al. Intensive blood glucose control and vascular outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes. N Engl J Med. 2008;358(24):2560–72.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Azad N, Agrawal L, Bahn G, Emanuele NV, Reaven PD, Hayward R, et al. Eye outcomes in veteran affairs diabetes trial (VADT) after 17 years. Diabetes Care. 2021;44(10):2397–402.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  21. Ho P, Rumsfeld J, Masoudi F, McClure D, Plomondon M, Steiner J, et al. Effect of medication nonadherence on hospitalization and mortality among patients with diabetes mellitus. Arch Intern Med. 2006;166(17):1836–41.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. O’Connor PJ, Sperl-Hillen JM, Rush WA, Johnson PE, Amundson GH, Asche SE, et al. Impact of electronic health record clinical decision support on diabetes care: a randomized trial. Ann Fam Med. 2011;9(1):12–21.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  23. Sperl-Hillen JM, Crain AL, Margolis KL, Ekstrom HL, Appana D, Amundson GH, et al. Clinical decision support directed to primary care patients and providers reduces cardiovascular risk: a randomized trial. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2018;25(9):1137–46.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  24. Gold R, Larson AE, Sperl-Hillen JM, Boston D, Sheppler CR, Heintzman J, et al. Effect of clinical decision support at community health centers on the risk of cardiovascular disease: a cluster randomized clinical trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5(2):e2146519.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  25. Rossom RC, Crain AL, O’Connor PJ, Waring SC, Hooker SA, Ohnsorg K, et al. Effect of clinical decision support on cardiovascular risk among adults with bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder, or schizophrenia: a cluster randomized clinical trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5(3):e220202.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  26. Goff DC Jr, Lloyd-Jones DM, Bennett G, Coady S, D’Agostino RB, Gibbons R, et al. 2013 ACC/AHA guideline on the assessment of cardiovascular risk: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on practice guidelines. Circulation. 2014;129(25 Suppl 2):S49–73.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Hayes AJ, Leal J, Gray AM, Holman RR, Clarke PM. UKPDS outcomes model 2: a new version of a model to simulate lifetime health outcomes of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus using data from the 30 year United Kingdom prospective diabetes study: UKPDS 82. Diabetologia. 2013;56(9):1925–33.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. O’Connor PJ, Vazquez-Benitez G, Schmittdiel JA, Parker ED, Trower NK, Desai JR, et al. Benefits of early hypertension control on cardiovascular outcomes in patients with diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2013;36(2):322–7.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  29. Phillips LS, Branch WT, Cook CB, Doyle JP, El-Kebbi IM, Gallina DL, et al. Clinical inertia. Ann Intern Med. 2001;135(9):825–34.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Shippee ND, Shah ND, May CR, Mair FS, Montori VM. Cumulative complexity: a functional, patient-centered model of patient complexity can improve research and practice. J Clin Epidemiol. 2012;65(10):1041–51.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. The Lancet. 50 years of the inverse care law. Lancet. 2021;397(10276):767.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Sperl-Hillen J, O’Connor P, Rush W, Asche S, Appana D, Rudge A, et al. Simulated diabetes training helps providers bring patients to goals: a cluster randomized trial diabetes. Philadelphia, PA: American Diabetes Association—72nd Scientific Sessions; 2012. p. A307.

    Google Scholar 

  33. O’Connor PJ, Sperl-Hillen JM, Johnson PE, Rush WA, Asche SE, Dutta P, et al. Simulated physician learning intervention to improve safety and quality of diabetes care: a randomized trial. Diabetes Care. 2009;32(4):585–90.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  34. Ivers N, Jamtvedt G, Flottorp S, Young JM, Odgaard-Jensen J, French SD, et al. Audit and feedback: effects on professional practice and healthcare outcomes. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012;6:Cd000259.

    Google Scholar 

  35. Katon WJ, Von Korff M, Lin EH, Simon G, Ludman E, Russo J, et al. The pathways study: a randomized trial of collaborative care in patients with diabetes and depression. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2004;61(10):1042–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Vickery KD, Shippee ND, Guzman-Corrales LM, Cain C, Turcotte Manser S, Walton T, et al. Changes in quality of life among enrollees in hennepin health: a medicaid expansion ACO. Med Care Res Rev. 2020;77(1):60–73.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Vickery KD, Shippee ND, Menk J, Owen R, Vock DM, Bodurtha P, et al. Integrated, accountable care for medicaid expansion enrollees: a comparative evaluation of hennepin health. Med Care Res Rev. 2020;77(1):46–59.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Anderson RMFJ, Gruppen LD, Funnell MM, Oh MS. The diabetes empowerment scale—short form (DES-SF). Diab Care. 2003;26:1641–3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Welch GW, Jacobson AM, Polonsky WH. The problem areas in diabetes scale: an evaluation of its clinical utility. Diab Care. 1997;20:760–6.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. Sperl-Hillen J, Beaton S, Fernandes O, Von Worley A, Vazquez-Benitez G, Parker E, et al. Comparative effectiveness of patient education methods for type 2 diabetes: a randomized controlled trial. Arch Intern Med. 2011;171(22):2001–10.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Desai JR, Sperl-Hillen JM, O’Connor PJ. Patient preferences in diabetes care: overcoming barriers using new strategies. J Comp Eff Res. 2013;2(4):351–4.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Tarn DM, Heritage J, Paterniti DA, Hays RD, Kravitz RL, Wenger NS. Physician communication when prescribing new medications. Arch Intern Med. 2006;166(17):1855–62.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Elliott TE, Asche SE, O’Connor PJ, Dehmer SP, Ekstrom HL, Truitt AR, et al. Clinical decision support with or without shared decision making to improve preventive cancer care: a cluster-randomized trial. Med Decis Mak. 2022;42(6):808–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Spencer-Bonilla G, Quinones AR, Montori VM, International Minimally Disruptive Medicine W, Assessing the burden of treatment. J Gen Intern Med. 2017;32(10):1141–5.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  45. Schmittdiel JA, Raebel MA, Dyer W, Xu S, Goodrich GK, Schroeder EB, et al. Prescription medication burden in patients with newly diagnosed diabetes: a SUrveillance, PREvention, and ManagEment of Diabetes Mellitus (SUPREME-DM) study. J Am Pharm Assoc (2003). 2014, 54(4):e251–e9.

    Google Scholar 

  46. Shubrook JH, Brannan GD, Wapner A, Klein G, Schwartz FL. Time needed for diabetes self-care: nationwide survey of certified diabetes educators. Diabetes Spectr. 2018;31(3):267–71.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  47. Boehmer KR, Shippee ND, Beebe TJ, Montori VM. Pursuing minimally disruptive medicine: disruption from illness and health care-related demands is correlated with patient capacity. J Clin Epidemiol. 2016;74:227–36.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  48. Greenfield S, Kaplan SH, Ware JE Jr, Yano EM, Frank HJ. Patients’ participation in medical care: effects on blood sugar control and quality of life in diabetes. J Gen Intern Med. 1988;3(5):448–57.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Rodriguez-Gutierrez R, Gionfriddo MR, Ospina NS, Maraka S, Tamhane S, Montori VM, et al. Shared decision making in endocrinology: present and future directions. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2016;4(8):706–16.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  50. McCoy RG, Van Houten HK, Ross JS, Montori VM, Shah ND. HbA1c overtesting and overtreatment among US adults with controlled type 2 diabetes, 2001-13: observational population based study. BMJ. 2015;351:h6138.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  51. Schroeder EB, Xu S, Goodrich GK, Nichols GA, O’Connor PJ, Steiner JF. Predicting the 6-month risk of severe hypoglycemia among adults with diabetes: development and external validation of a prediction model. J Diabetes Complicat. 2017;31(7):1158–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. Ismail-Beigi F, Moghissi E, Tiktin M, Hirsch IB, Inzucchi SE, Genuth S. Individualizing glycemic targets in type 2 diabetes mellitus: implications of recent clinical trials. Ann Intern Med. 2011;154(8):554–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  53. LaVecchia CM, Montori VM, Shah ND, McCoy RG. Values informing the development of an indicator of appropriate diabetes therapy: qualitative study. BMJ Open. 2020;10(12):e044395.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  54. Rodriguez-Gutierrez R, Millan-Alanis JM, Barrera FJ, McCoy RG. Value of patient-centered glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes. Curr Diab Rep. 2021;21(12):63.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  55. Clarke P, Gray A, Adler A, Stevens R, Raikou M, Cull C, et al. Cost-effectiveness analysis of intensive blood-glucose control with metformin in overweight patients with type II diabetes (UKPDS no. 51). Diabetologia. 2001;44(3):298–304.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  56. Margolis KL, O’Connor PJ, Morgan TM, Buse JB, Cohen RM, Cushman WC, et al. Outcomes of combined cardiovascular risk factor management strategies in type 2 diabetes: the ACCORD randomized trial. Diabetes Care. 2014;37(6):1721–8.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  57. Zhu J, Yu X, Zheng Y, Li J, Wang Y, Lin Y, et al. Association of glucose-lowering medications with cardiovascular outcomes: an umbrella review and evidence map. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2020;8(3):192–205.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  58. Tsapas A, Avgerinos I, Karagiannis T, Malandris K, Manolopoulos A, Andreadis P, et al. Comparative effectiveness of glucose-lowering drugs for type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. Ann Intern Med. 2020;173(4):278–86.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  59. O’Connor PJ, Sperl-Hillen JM, Fazio CJ, Averbeck BM, Rank BH, Margolis KL. Outpatient diabetes clinical decision support: current status and future directions. Diabet Med. 2016;33(6):734–41.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  60. Mayo Knowledge and Evaluation Research (KER) Unit. Diabetes medication choice decision conversation aid: mayo foundation for medical education and research.

    Google Scholar 

  61. Selby JV, Ray GT, Zhang D, Colby CJ. Excess costs of medical care for patients with diabetes in a managed care population. Diabetes Care. 1997;20(9):1396–402.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  62. Institute of Medicine. Guidelines we can trust 2012. http://iom.edu/Reports/2011/Clinical-Practice-Guidelines-We-Can-Trust.aspx.

  63. Lipska KJ, Hirsch IB, Riddle MC. Human insulin for type 2 diabetes: an effective, less-expensive option. JAMA. 2017;318(1):23–4.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  64. Neugebauer R, Schroeder EB, Reynolds K, Schmittdiel JA, Loes L, Dyer W, et al. Comparison of mortality and major cardiovascular events among adults with type 2 diabetes using human vs analogue insulins. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(1):e1918554.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  65. Schroeder EB, Neugebauer R, Reynolds K, Schmittdiel JA, Loes L, Dyer W, et al. Association of cardiovascular outcomes and mortality with sustained long-acting insulin only vs long-acting plus short-acting insulin treatment. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(9):e2126605.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  66. Gilmer TP, Roze S, Valentine WJ, Emy-Albrecht K, Ray JA, Cobden D, et al. Cost-effectiveness of diabetes case management for low-income populations. Health Serv Res. 2007;42(5):1943–59.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  67. Gilmer T, Burgos JL, Anzaldo-Campos MC, Vargas-Ojeda A. Cost-effectiveness of a technology-enhanced diabetes care management program in Mexico. Value Health Reg Issues. 2019;20:41–6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  68. Ye W, Kuo S, Kieffer EC, Piatt G, Sinco B, Palmisano G, et al. Cost-effectiveness of a diabetes self-management education and support intervention led by community health workers and peer leaders: projections from the racial and ethnic approaches to community health Detroit trial. Diabetes Care. 2021;44(5):1108–15.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  69. Gilmer TP, O’Connor PJ, Sperl-Hillen JM, Rush WA, Johnson PE, Amundson GH, et al. Cost effectiveness of an electronic medical record based clinical decision support system. Health Serv Res. 2012;47(6):2137–58.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  70. Herman WH, Edelstein SL, Ratner RE, Montez MG, Ackermann RT, Orchard TJ, et al. Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of diabetes prevention among adherent participants. Am J Manag Care. 2013;19(3):194–202.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  71. Gilmer T, O’Connor PJ, Schiff JS, Taylor G, Vazquez-Benitez G, Garrett JE, et al. Cost-effectiveness of a community-based diabetes prevention program with participation incentives for medicaid beneficiaries. Health Serv Res. 2018;53:4704–24.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Further Reading

  • O’Connor PJ, Bodkin NL, Fradkin J, Glasgow RE, Greenfield S, Gregg E, et al. Diabetes performance measures: current status and future directions. Diabetes Care. 2011;34(7):1651–9. [This article presents an overview of important issues and choices related to measuring diabetes quality of care, with author perspectives representing a wide range of stakeholders.]

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Greenfield S, Kaplan SH, Ware JE Jr, Yano EM, Frank HJ. Patients’ participation in medical care: effects on blood sugar control and quality of life in diabetes. J Gen Intern Med. 1988;3(5):448–57. [This pivotal article showed that patient-centered care and shared decision making are linked to better glucose control, higher satisfaction with care, and better quality of life for adults with diabetes. Electronic health record (EHR)-linked clinical decision support systems can process patient-specific date, identify evidence-based care options, and present care options to both the patient and clinician at the point of care, enabling more efficient and consistent shared decision making.]

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Patrick J. O’Connor .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

O’Connor, P.J., Vickery, K.D., Gilmer, T.P. (2023). Measuring Diabetes Quality of Care: Clinical Outcomes, Cost-Effectiveness, and Patient Experience of Care. In: Rodriguez-Saldana, J. (eds) The Diabetes Textbook. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25519-9_24

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25519-9_24

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-25518-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-25519-9

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics